My Clymer manual has this warning on the overhauled of the front forks on a 1980-1982 GL1100 “Overhaul of 1980- 1982 disassembly on this model should be entrusted to a Honda dealer. In order to dissemble the fork, the fork seal in the slider must be removed with special Honda tools and a hydraulic press.”

Is the manual correct?

If not has anyone overhauled this model and know what I will be in for If I try to do it on my own?

I did my own seals on front forks this summer and I am not a Honda Mech. Hardest part was getting the fairing off and on. I have a manual from Honda and it is alot clearer than my Clymer manual. It was more exspensive but worth the dough. I bought my seals from Dennis Kirk and got the best ones they have, Lifetime Molly and they are warranted for life. You will need a good pair of inside snap ring pliers and just follow instructions and you should be OK

Rex

Ps mine is 82 aspey and I had wires going to xtra lites on disk rotor covers and fog lites etc.

Yeah, I read that AFTER I had done the forks..... try to imagine the sinking feeling I had done something very naughty to my bike after that!

Anyway, thing is, I have no idea why thats written in there at all. Its very straight forward.

Here is an over view. (Search this fine site for lots more how toos on this topic).

1. Decide if its just a fork seal job, or a total rebuild and explore job.

There are some good reasons for leaving the tops of the fork tubes on the bike. Its actually easier (IMHO) because the top fork tube is held firmly and you have the weight of the bike to press against. Not having the proper fork seal driver (or any pipe to make one out of) and or a vice to hold everything in makes it pointless to take the top tubes out. I will describe removing the springs, because if you have not done it before, you need to do it at least once so you can see what sort of springs you have. This matters when you go to put the oil back in.

2. Remove the front wheel.
Think about where you are going to do this job, once the wheel is off, the bike is not going to be easy to move until its all back together! If you have all the parts, then its only going to take 1-2 hours at the most (2nd time round, 3-5 hours for the first time). Put the bike on the center stand (heh, good luck!). Put a jack or block of wood under the motor to hold the front wheel off the ground. Make sure this is pretty solid, you are going to be rocking the bike a fair bit, you do NOT want it falling over!
Undo and remove the 4x19mm silver bolts that hold the two brake calipers on. Undo and remove the philips head screw that holds on the speedo cable (you may have some fun doing this, try an impact driver). Remove the brake calipers. Use some string or ocky strap to hold the calipers up so they don't hang on the hoses. Remove the 4 axle holder bolts and the 2 axle holders. remove the front wheel. Undo and remove the 4 bolts that hold on the front mud guard. Slide the guard out the way and clear of the forks.

3. Disassemble the front forks.
Bleed off all air pressure in the forks. Put a bucket under the forks and remove the alan key from up the very bottom of each fork leg. Let the forks drain while you do some more work. Undo the 3 air hose connections on the top of the fork caps. Remove the two fork caps. (I used a larger shifter, be very, VERY careful, they are under a fair bit of spring pressure!) Remove the springs, noting what way they come out. It shouldn't matter which leg, but if you have original springs, they should go back the same way. If you have progressive springs fitted, it matters not which way up they are. (Standard springs are an even spiral for the whole length, progressive are wound tight at one end and spread out as they go down (or up). Now pump the lower legs up and down a bit to get some more oil out.
Use your hands or gentle use of a fine flat blade screwdriver to prize up the dust seal. Slide it up the fork leg so its out the way. Use proper "C" clip pliers or needle nose pliers to remove the "C" clip. Make sure you really squeeze it together, that's the only way its going to come out. Now, here comes the fun part. What we have to do now is force the old oil seal out of its seat and get the bottom leg separated from the upper leg. We do this by taking hold of the bottom leg, sliding it as far up the top leg as it will go and then with all your might sliding (slamming!) it down! The first time I did this, it took me about 20-30 goes before I got it to shift, the second it only took about 10-20 slams. Guess I did the first 20 slams too soft! Of course it goes with out saying make sure the "C" clip is all the way out before you start doing this!
Thats it, in no time you will have a hand full of bits.
Replace what you need, reassemble and ride.

Hint, if you do not have a tube driver and or you left the uppers on the bike, cut an old seal with a hacksaw and open it out to wrap around the leg and use that to drive the new seal down into place. Use a rubber mallet so you dont pit the upper fork tube.

Now, the oil. Search this site, I totally forget how much I put back in (I will measure what comes out next time!). The thinking is this. Progressive springs take up more volume, so you need less oil. If you put the factory amount in, with progressive springs, you will over fill the tubes and blow a fork seal. (Hint, if you have progressive springs, you will not need as much air as normal either, if you put the quoted amount of air in, you will blow a fork seal). If you have standard springs, lifes good and simple. (But you might like to consider getting some progressive springs to help that sagging front end!)
Look close at the bronze bushes and sliders, the GL1100's did not have a fork brace, those sliders have to work pretty hard, if they are worn even a little, you will chew out those new fork seals in no time....they are all that is stopping the lower leg from rocking on the seal and upper tube.
Of course its also a perfect time to inspect for any pitting and also to consider fitting a set of fork gaiters to protect the tube surfaces, your fork seals with thank you with MANY years of service!

Here is a photo of what it all looks like. Make sure you photograph or note the order of bits on your bike!

I agree, thanks for this post. Great information. I have been thinking of doing this to my 1100 this winter. I have noticed that I will get a little wet look at the seal after a 50 to 100 mile ride. Also my air leaks off from full presure. If I set it at 20# it will leak down to 15 in a day and to 9 or 10 in a day or 2. Then it will stay at 9 or 10 for weeks if it is sitting in the garage. I am thinking if it is leaking it should leak completely off.

Thanks Benastro, for the detailed instructions, Rex for the re-assurance. I thought that the Clem manual was being over cautious. I knew it could not be that much to it. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't getting my self into something I would regret.

I Believe you dont need to remove the fairing... i have seen my friend's 1100 81 and theres enough clearance for removint ehe triple tree bolts to take the forks out.

And so i did on my 1200 without taking out the fairing..

you dont need to remove the bushings as they may damage. just remove the lower bolt first using the spring pressure to keep the inner parts out of moving. then with the lower bolt out go for the spring caps then remove the dust seal, the clip locking the inner seeals then just jack the fork tubes apart and it will pop out the oil seal with a seat?. then clean everything you need to build a seal driver to install it use a pvc pipe and install everything back! EASY!!.

You don't need to pull the fairing, I prefer to remove the fork tubes from the bike to do the job so I just remove the wheel and fender, remove the fork caps, loosen the steering stem clamps and slide the forks out of the stem. I've replaced the seals in five 'Wings so far and just got the parts in to reseal the forks on the bike I'm working on in the shop now. Mainly I like to have it all out in the open and find it easier to get the seals set into the lowers without damage off the bike. Everybody to their own way, there's at least two ways to skin this cat.

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